The curse of life
by AzureCoyote
Summary: Camp was fine after the war against Gaea, until a new prophecy is discovered, one concerning the children of the underworld. Will and Nico, along with the remaining of the seven, must settle the turmoil in Hades' realm, and find out why Apollo has been cast off of Olympus… and into Tartarus.
1. Parody of life (Prologue)

**So I came onto FanFiction as soon as I'd finished BOO and I couldn't find any Solangelo fics, or just Nico post BOO fics. And thus, this was born from delusional, coffee induced plot writing. This will be a fic with everybody in it, just a little Solangelo fun on the side, and they're keeping it PG. **

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><p>Prologue (A parody of life)<p>

Will's POV

As much as Will had sought after a battle ever since he found out he was the son of Apollo, being relentlessly pummelled by a group of Cyclops was not his idea of heroism.

"Cecil!" He cried, as the son of Hermes was noticed creeping up on the biggest of the Cyclops, grabbed and thrown towards him. Lou Ellen tried her best to cover them with a spell that produced a cloud of mist, but it wouldn't work for long. Cyclops relied on their other senses anyway.

Will jumped up and gathered his bow while the monsters were distracted by the mist. He nocked an arrow, aiming for the eye. The celestial bronze head glinted as it arched towards the cyclops, landing with a thud in it's bloodshot dirty brown eye.

"Finally." Cecil commented as they finally landed a few blows. A couple Cyclops went down, but there were still a good half dozen ready to gut them.

"Call the guard dogs!" One of the Cyclops yelled, spittle flying from her lips.

"That doesn't sound good." Lou Ellen raised her head from where she'd been helping Cecil.

In unison, all the cyclops whistled, a piercing sound that rung through the small chamber that held the stolen celestial bronze weapons that Will and co had come to recover.

"Correction. That _really_ doesn't sound good." Will took an instinctive step back as several hellhounds seeped from the shadows and approached the trio, maws dripping with slobber and not in a cute way.

"Well, I only had my finals to look forward to anyway," Cecil laughed nervously, "But I didn't want to miss them _that_ bad. Will, if you have a secret weapon, please don't hesitate to utilise it."

A hellhound leaped at Lou Ellen, and she swiped her hand, a bluish portal appearing through which the hellhound disappeared.

The cyclops continued trying to smuggle the celestial bronze into their carts, while Will tried to pick them off with his bow.

Just as he pulled back the string, a hellhound crossed his vision, swiping at him with its claws. He cried out in pain as his forearm was cut, and tried to take the hellhound out, but it hurt to draw his bow.

The dog growled, licking Will's blood from it's paw. It's eyes became a deeper red, like it was angrier now.

"Agh!" Will looked over, and saw Lou Ellen and Cecil had also been cornered by the hellhounds.

This was just meant to be a simple retrieval, it was never meant to be this hard.

Will pushed himself against the wall and closed his eyes, hearing the booming growl of the creature in front of him.

A yelp sounded out and the growl stopped. Will opened his eyes.

"Secret weapon, huh?" Nico Di Angelo held out a hand, all the monsters around him impaled by sharp black rocks that Will knew hadn't been there before. In his other hand, he held a box of McDonalds fries.

Will rolled his eyes. "Don't be so full of yourself." He took a French fry without consulting Nico, and shoved it in his mouth.

"We didn't need help!" Cecil intercepted. "We had it this time."

"Bring us out, Clovis." Nico sighed.

Will grimaced as he was pulled from the dream simulation and woke up in a bunk in the Hypnos cabin. "Ow." He rubbed his aching head, and saw his friends doing the same, apart from Nico who slid from the bunk like breakfast was ready and he _really _wanted OJ.

"Sorry about that." Clovis rubbed his arm nervously. "I'm still perfecting that simulation."

Will caught Nico's shoulder, "Why do we have to keep doing these stupid fake quests?"

"It's training." He answered simply.

It'd been over a year since Gaea's defeat, and still Nico insisted on such intensive training. They'd been doing these fake quests for months now, and every time they tried to pull out, Nico forced them to do it.

"You say that every time I ask! Training for what?" Will yelled. He was tired, and pain in the dream sim was like pain in the real world with no actual harm to the physical body. In other words, he was pissed, and right now, Nico happened to be in the way.

"We don't need training, we can defend ourselves just fine!" Nico looked kind of angry, since he'd poured his heart and soul into making these simulations with Clovis for his friends.

"Well, I'm sorry you don't like it, but you've never been on a quest alone before. I want you all to be prepared if you ever get attacked." Nico replied calmly.

Lou Ellen and Cecil looked extremely uncomfortable, edging towards the son of Hypnos like they wanted Clovis to put them to sleep again.

"Well, _I'm _sorry to break it to you Nico! We don't need your help!" Will added darkly, "And we certainly don't need you."

Nico jumped, like Will had attacked him physically. The others gasped as shadows peeled away from their rightful places and started to gather around Nico. "There _is _a quest."

Will hadn't yet regretted what he'd said, but was too angry to think too deeply about it. "What?" He snapped.

"I got a prophecy, Will. I was trying to make sure you'll be okay when I'm not here. Sorry." He wasn't angry, he sounded more hurt, which was the worst part. But he also didn't elaborate. Will wanted him to sit with him and explain it all. To shout at him for being a jerk.

None of that happened. What did happen was the shadows wrapped around his pale form and he stepped back into them like one trusting friend into an-others arms.

"Nico wait!" Will yelled, but it was too late. The shadows dissipated, and Nico was gone.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading, and please review ^_^<strong>


	2. In the shadows

Chapter one (In the shadows)

Nico's POV

Nico pulled the hood up on a black sweatshirt he'd 'borrowed' from the camp shop. It had an orange Pegasus print on the back, which hopefully meant the Romans wouldn't attack him on sight.

He had shadow travelled over the boundary line completely by accident, but he was sure that Terminus would still give him a lecture for not signing in. He laughed silently at the mental image of the angry head statue reprimanding someone at least five feet taller than him.

Nico reminded himself why he was here. Will snapping at him was not the only reason he'd left Camp Half-Blood. He had been meaning to visit his sister for some time, since he knew she must have at least caught wind of the prophecy by now.

Still, Nico forgave Will for being so horrible with him. Ever since Apollo had gone missing, his life had gone downhill. He wasn't as good at archery, he couldn't foresee anything, and, people in the sickbay were getting worse rather than better. It was like a dark cloud had come to rest over the Apollo cabin and everyone else suffered the repercussions.

Nico marched toward the Cohorts, hoping that his sister may still be in the fifth.

A roman sentry aimed a crossbow at him from a guard tower, but Nico waved him off. He put down his weapon when he noticed who it was.

Nico got to the tent and peered round the door, seeing Hazel and Frank alone, intertwined in each others arms... kissing.

Nico blushed, and cleared his throat.

"Ah!" Hazel yelped, and fanned her face in embarrassment, a few precious gems forcing their way through the ground. Frank sighed, like he was used to being walked in on.

Hazel forced a smile, but it gradually melted into a real one as she took in her half brother. "You've grown!" She grinned, treating him as if she was the older sister, pulling him in for a hug.

"So have you," Nico muttered accusingly into her shoulder. He withdrew and picked up a diamond. "And so have your powers."

Hazel slapped his hand, making him drop it. "You know that's bad luck. Are you here to see Annabeth and Percy? They're at the college right now, but I can show you where they-"

He held up a hand. "That isn't why I'm here. Can I talk to you for a second?" Frank nodded with Hazel. "Privately."

The son of Mars nodded reasonably and exited the tent, standing guard outside.

Nico grabbed Hazel and he waved a hand, shadows congregating where he'd swiped. He pulled Hazel through and they stepped out into the field of Mars.

She looked disoriented for a second, before realising where they'd been transported. "What-?"

"Sorry. Frank, or anyone else could've heard us over there. This has to be completely between us." Nico assured her, looking back towards where the Cohorts were.

"I thought you only saved shadow traveling for emergencies?"

He didn't want to admit it, but he'd shadow travelled just to spite Will. He hated it when Nico put any unnecessary strain on himself.

"Ella recalled a prophecy and I think it's about us."

Hazel gasped, grabbing Nico's shoulders, "What did it say?"

He grimaced and looked to the floor, "Venture to the land one calls home, lead by the child with life on loan."

She looked at him intensely, "And the rest?"

He shook his head. "That's all there is so far. Ella won't tell me any more of it, and I don't want her spouting the whole prophecy to the camp."

Hazel looked deep in thought, "So _I'm_ the 'child with life on loan' since I should be dead right now. But who am I leading? And what is the 'land one calls home'?"

Nico looked up at Hazel, the one person who truly made him feel loved after he rescued her from the fields of Asphodel, and lied to her face, "I don't know, I thought you'd want to know. We'll work it out."

Hazel tried a smile and nodded, "We will. But for now, how would you like a big Roman dinner?"

Nico brushed aside his guilt and linked arms with her, "That, dear sister, sounds amazing."

Rather than dining with the cohorts, Hazel lead Nico into New Rome for a meal out. Although Nico had wanted it to just be them, they ran into Percy and Annabeth in the square by the water fountain, and Hazel invited Frank.

It was strange having most of the Argo II group back together, bar Piper and Jason who were at the other camp, and Leo. They took an outside table at a traditional Italian restaurant, next to the water fountain at Percy's demand. Nico hadn't seen everybody's favorite power couple since the end of Gaea's war, and not since he'd confessed his true feelings to Percy. The son of Poseidon seemed to be stepping on eggshells around him, not delving into any topic that may lead to what had happened.

Annabeth seemed to be getting annoyed at him, since he was only talking to Nico if it was absolutely necessary.

"So, Annabeth, how're your studies going?" Frank asked, sensing the tension.

Nico zoned out of the talk, watching Percy's hand as he made the water from the fountain curl around his fingers like a snake. He wasn't sure of his feelings towards Percy anymore.

"How's camp?"

Nico bolted upright and tore his gaze from Percy's hand. "Huh?"

Percy dropped the water and repeated himself. "You know, since you never really stayed long enough to enjoy it."

Nico forced a smile, "Right. Uh, it's great. Really great."

Percy nodded, "Uh huh. Because I got an Iris message from camp about an hour ago. From Will Solace."

His heart sunk. He thought Will may have trusted him enough to just let him go, though he supposed he could've told him where he was going.

"He said he knows you came here, and he wanted to say sorry." Percy noticed the girls and Frank had paused their conversation to listen in, but continued, "He's your friend, you can't just do that to him."

"But I-"

Percy held up a hand, his face deadly serious, "Now I'm no Cupid, but I'd say that's no way to win a guys heart."

Nico choked on his linguini, and stared at Percy like he'd just assaulted his puppy. "What." He managed.

Percy threw his hands up, "You're so blind, Will is totally into you."

Nico blushed so deeply his pale complexion vanished in a sea of red. Hazel and Annabeth grinned at him, like they'd been preparing to do this for months, while Frank gave a thumbs up in encouragement.

"What the hell, guys?" Nico tried to cover his embarrassment with anger, but he was too surprised to make it believable.

Hazel out a hand on his shoulder, "We all know, Nico, and we don't care."

Nico felt like he was under ten thousand spotlights at once. He stammered, and tried to reply, but instead just stuffed his mouth with more pasta.

Annabeth sensed his shock, and smiled, "Anyway, did you hear about what Reyna did to-"

Annabeth's words faded out as Nico heard her name. Reyna. He hadn't seen the praetor for months now, and he could ask her for advice. He excused himself from the table, assuring everyone that it wasn't because of the tense conversation that he was leaving.

"Thanks everyone." He grinned, the smile hurting the muscles he hardly utilised, "It means a lot to me. Really."

It didn't take long to find praetor Reyna, sitting on the steps to the temple of Bellona. Her eyes were downcast, her hands fiddling with an Imperial gold dagger. She seemed solemn, though he didn't know why. It'd been over a year since they defeated Gaea, Octavian wasn't around anymore and the Roman legion was more powerful than ever. What was there to be sad about? That was what most people would ask her, but not him. Nico understood her sadness.

She looked up when she heard Nico's footsteps drawing closer, her eyes brightening when she saw him. "Nico!"

She pushed herself up and caught Nico in a hug, to his dismay. "Terminus told me that someone crossed the boundary without signing in, I should've guessed it would be you." She tensed a little when Nico leaned most of his weight, which wasn't much, into her. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Nico took a shuddering breath. He'd been holding this in for a while now, since everything had just piled up over the last few days, mostly the prophecy weighing on his conscience. He let his tears spill over onto Reyna's shoulder, noticing with a jolt that he now stood the same height as her. A year before, she seemed like a big sister to him, and now it seemed like in another year he'd be towering over her.

"It's okay." She soothed, placing her hands on his back, "It's gonna be okay." Reyna waited for him to calm down before asking him what was wrong.

He shook his head, there was no way he could tell her the truth, not the entirety of it anyway. "It's nothing." He tried to brush her off.

"Obviously not. It takes a lot to make you cry." Reyna pulled away and forced Nico to look her in the eye. "Now tell me why you're so upset."

Nico choked on his words, trying to avoid the question. He couldn't tell anyone, not even Will, or Hazel, not even Reyna. He had to do this on his own. He opened his mouth, ready to trot out a half baked excuse, which he seemed to be doing a lot lately.

"I'm sorry, I just can't. I just came to see you before... Um, I just came to see you." Nico ignored Reyna's calls for him to come back as he trudged back towards the boundary line, working himself up for another shadow jump.

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><p><strong>Thanks to;<strong>

**Agana of the night, AlianAnn, Andromedark, FaiKazahaya, MistSpade, TheOrangeNeko, linlaverynz and morbid bookworm for the follows, I really appreciate it!**

**Any suggestions or mini head-cannons are welcome and if you tell me them then I will do my best to include them :)**


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